Marion Strikes a Pose Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 Ready, Set, Style!

  Chapter 2 Froggy Fashion Show

  Chapter 3 A Wrinkle in the Plan

  Chapter 4 Style School

  Chapter 5 Frog Facts

  Chapter 6 Decisions, Decisions

  Chapter 7 A Strange Feeling

  Chapter 8 Marion Makes It Work

  Chapter 9 The Moment of Truth

  Chapter 10 Showtime!

  ‘Amy’s Very Merry Christmas’ Excerpt

  About Callie Barkley and Marsha Riti

  Ready, Set, Style!

  Marion walked in the front door of Santa Vista Elementary School. In her head, she was going through her morning checklist: Homework folder? Check. Lunch box? Check. Sneakers for gym? Check.

  Marion felt ready for the day.

  She followed other kids into the auditorium for the morning assembly, which they had every Friday. The seats were filling up. Marion headed for the rows assigned to the second-grade classes. She spotted an empty seat next to her three best friends, Amy, Liz, and Ellie.

  Walking toward that row, Marion passed a group of fourth graders. “I love your skirt, Marion!” said a girl named Emily as Marion went by.

  “Thanks!” Marion replied. She had spent a lot of time last night planning her outfit for today. She added one more item to her checklist. Cool outfit? Check! Marion loved picking out her outfits for school. And for play dates and for parties. And for riding her horse, Coco. For everything, really!

  “Hi, Marion!” said Amy as she sat down. Farther down the row, Ellie and Liz waved.

  “Attention, students!” Mrs. Young, the principal, spoke into the microphone at the front of the auditorium. All the kids quieted down. “I have some announcements. But first, we have a special guest. Her name is Hannah Lewis. She is the owner of The Closet, a store here in Santa Vista.”

  The students clapped.

  Marion gasped. The Closet! It was her absolute favorite clothing store.

  Marion sat up straight in her seat as Hannah Lewis walked up to the microphone. Marion loved Hannah’s outfit—an extra-long top with a leather belt, black leggings, and ballet flats. Plus she had on some cool beaded necklaces.

  “Good morning, everyone,” said Hannah. “Thank you, Mrs. Young, for letting me come today. I want to announce that we will be having a special fashion show at The Closet in a few weeks.”

  A fashion show, Marion thought. How fun!

  “The purpose of the show is to raise money for a charity,” said Hannah. “It provides free clothing to children who need it, so it’s a very good cause. We hope the fashion show will get lots of people to come shopping at our store that day. All the money we earn will go to the charity.”

  “What a great idea,” whispered Marion. Amy gave a thumbs-up in agreement.

  “But I need your help,” Hannah went on. “Our store is a kids’ clothing store. And I was thinking: Who knows best what kids like to wear? Kids! So I am looking for some young fashion designers.”

  Marion’s eyes went wide. This was just getting better and better!

  “The Closet is having a styling contest,” Hannah explained. “To enter, you style an outfit—head to toe. I will pick one winning look from each grade. Those will be the outfits in our fashion show!”

  Now Marion was so excited she could hardly sit still!

  “Contest entries are due a week from Monday,” Hannah went on. “I have flyers here with all the rules. If you are interested, please come up to get one.”

  Marion jumped out of her seat, ready to get a flyer.

  Seeing Marion, Hannah laughed. “After assembly,” she added. “But I like your enthusiasm.”

  Marion sat back down, too excited to even be embarrassed. She felt as if this contest had been made just for her.

  I have to win! she thought. I just have to!

  Froggy Fashion Show

  After school, the girls met at The Critter Club. That was the animal shelter they had started in their friend Ms. Sullivan’s empty barn. At the club, they took care of stray and hurt animals and tried to find homes for them.

  They also did a lot of pet sitting. Right now at The Critter Club they were taking care of some frogs for a family that was on vacation. It was Liz and Marion’s turn to check on the frogs, but Amy and Ellie had come, too. It was fun to all be there together.

  Always organized, Marion pulled the frog feeding schedule from her backpack. “I guess it’s my day to feed them,” she said. “But, do you want to do it, Liz?”

  “Yes!” Liz cried excitedly. For Liz, the more unusual the animal, the better. Turtles, snakes, spiders—she loved them all.

  Marion shivered. The frogs were not exactly her favorite Critter Club guests. They looked so slimy. And they ate bugs. Yuck!

  While Liz fed the frogs, Marion pulled the contest flyer out of her backpack. She hadn’t stopped thinking about it since assembly.

  “Are you going to enter?” Marion asked her friends.

  Amy shook her head no. “Maybe if it was a writing contest,” she said with a smile.

  Liz also shook her head. “I don’t know how to design an outfit. Mine just kind of happen.”

  “What about you, Ellie?” Marion asked. Ellie loved dressing up.

  Ellie twirled around and then curtsied. “I’d rather be on the stage than styling backstage.” she replied.

  The girls all laughed. That was Ellie, all right! She loved being in the spotlight.

  “Well, I have a favor to ask of you guys,” Marion said. “I stopped at home and picked out an outfit for each of you from my closet. You know, to get my styling ideas started.”

  Marion pulled out the clothes she’d brought. “I thought we could play Fashion Show. Right here in the barn!”

  Marion had brought a sparkly skirt and satin blouse for Ellie.

  “Cuuuuute!” Ellie cooed. She rushed into a storage room to try them on. She was back in less than a minute.

  “Ta-da!” Ellie said, striking a pose. Marion added a beaded silk flower to her hair. “Oh, this is so me!”

  Marion smiled and pulled out Amy’s outfit. It was a striped yellow T-shirt dress.

  “Would you try it on?” Marion asked Amy. “Please?”

  Amy didn’t look so sure about the fashion show idea, but she agreed. She went off to change and came back, all smiles.

  “This is definitely something I would wear,” Amy said.

  Finally, Marion had a colorful outfit for Liz: a bright green dress and rainbow-striped leggings.

  Liz had just taken the lid off the frog tank to feed the frogs, but she glanced over. When she saw the outfit, she clapped happily. “I can’t wait to try that on! You really know our styles!”

  “Thanks, Liz.” Marion said. “That’s so nice to—EEEEEK!”

  Marion shrieked as a frog jumped out of the tank.

  The frog landed on the table.

  “I’ll get it!” said Amy. “Oh, wait! We’re not supposed to touch them.” Amy grabbed a butterfly net. She tried to catch the frog but it quickly hopped away. “Hey, come back here!” she cried.

  The frog hopped onto the outfit Marion had brought for Liz.

  “Shoo! Shoo!” Marion cried. The slimy frog was hopping all over the clothes! “Somebody get it off!”

  Finally, Amy scooped up the frog in the net. She gently put it back into the frog tank. Marion took a deep breath. Liz, Amy, and Ellie turned to look at her.

  Then all four girls burst out laughing.

  “You know, Marion,” said Liz, “frogs are really cool in lots of ways.”

  Amy nodded. “My mom is going to come next week. She can teach us more about them.”

  Amy’s mom, Dr. Melanie Purvis,
was a veterinarian. She often helped the girls care for the animals at The Critter Club. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll even learn to like them.”

  Marion smiled and didn’t say anything. I wouldn’t count on that! she thought.

  A Wrinkle in the Plan

  “What a great idea!” said Liz. She was looking at the stack of cards Marion had made over the weekend. Each one had a photo of an item of clothing Marion owned.

  “I call them style cards,” Marion said as Liz handed them back. “I can carry them around and flip through them to get design ideas.”

  It was Monday and their class was in the art room. Liz and Marion sat across from each other at one end of a long table. Today they were painting with watercolors.

  Marion had carefully painted a few lines, but most of her paper was empty. She didn’t love painting. Paintbrushes didn’t have erasers. What if she messed up?

  Next to Marion, a girl named Olivia leaned over. “Marion,” she said, “could I look at those?” She pointed at the stack of style cards.

  “Sure!” Marion replied. She handed the cards to Olivia.

  Olivia studied them carefully, looking very interested. “You always wear the coolest outfits,” she told Marion.

  Marion smiled. “Thanks!” she exclaimed.

  Olivia nodded and went back to flipping through the cards.

  Marion was surprised by the compliment. She had never really noticed Olivia’s taste in clothes before. Today Olivia was wearing a purple sweater with a crooked heart on it, black jeans, and purple high-top sneakers. It seemed like their styles were really different.

  Olivia passed the cards back. “Thanks for letting me look,” she said, and gave Marion a friendly smile. Marion smiled back.

  “Could I ask you a favor?” Olivia asked her.

  Marion nodded. “Sure.”

  “Well, I was wondering . . .” Olivia began. She looked unsure of her words. “Could you maybe, I don’t know, give me some fashion tips sometime?”

  Marion was so flattered. She and Olivia were friendly, but they didn’t know each other super well. She must really like my fashion sense to ask me for advice, Marion thought.

  Marion smiled. “Sure!” she told Olivia.

  “Thanks!” Olivia exclaimed happily. “Maybe now I’ll have a shot at winning.”

  Marion was confused. “Winning?” she asked.

  Olivia nodded. “Winning the styling contest,” Olivia explained. “I’m entering, too.”

  “Oh.” It was all Marion could think of to say. But her mind was racing. She and Olivia were both in second grade. Hannah would choose only one winning look from each grade. So if Olivia was entering, and Marion was entering, that meant . . .

  Olivia was her competition.

  And Marion had just agreed to help her win.

  Style School

  Marion laughed, looking down at her Saturday breakfast. Her mom had made it look like a mouse in a sleeping bag. The mouse had a banana-slice head, chocolate-chip eyes, and two blueberry ears. The sleeping bag was a folded pancake. There was even a pillow—a toast rectangle—under the mouse’s head.

  Marion hurried to finish her breakfast before Olivia came over. The girls were getting to be good friends. Already Olivia had been over three times that week.

  At first Marion wasn’t sure about helping Olivia. But she quickly changed her mind. After all, she was just giving Olivia fashion tips—not styling her outfit for her.

  So on Tuesday, Olivia came over after school. Together the girls played mix-and-match design with all of Marion’s style cards.

  “Don’t be afraid to mix patterns and fabrics,” Marion advised. “A denim jacket looks great with a silky striped skirt.”

  On Wednesday, the girls played dress-up with Marion’s party clothes. Olivia didn’t even mind that Gabby, Marion’s little sister, wanted to play, too. She had a little brother about the same age.

  “Make sure you like your outfit,” Marion said, sharing another tip. “Clothes look better if you feel good wearing them.”

  On Thursday, the two of them talked about accessories: scarves, belts, and shoes.

  “You know, one fun accessory can make a whole outfit better!” Marion pointed out.

  Marion liked getting to know Olivia. Olivia was really nice. She liked animals. And she cared about the charity that The Closet was raising money for. Olivia reminded Marion that the contest wasn’t all about winning; it was also about helping people.

  By Saturday, Marion not only really liked Olivia, she also wanted Olivia to do well in the contest.

  It was a nice day, so the girls sat out on Marion’s back porch. They sipped lemonade through curly straws.

  “Okay, here it is,” said Marion. “This is my big fashion tip. Pick one part of your design—either the shoes, or the pants, or the top, or an accessory. Pick one part and do something . . . unexpected! Make it unique.”

  Olivia nodded. “That makes sense,” she said. “So, nothing too crazy. But something that will make our outfits stand out in the contest.” She pulled her curly straw out of her glass. “Like this straw,” she said with a giggle. “You could use it in an outfit as a—”

  “Cool hair accessory!” Marion suggested.

  Olivia’s jaw dropped. “That’s what I was going to say!”

  Marion laughed. “Great minds think alike,” she said.

  Frog Facts

  Later that afternoon, Marion was outside The Critter Club playing fetch with Ms. Sullivan’s dog, Rufus. She threw a stick across Ms. Sullivan’s backyard. “Go get it!” she said.

  Rufus bounded after the stick. He was getting so big! Marion could remember when she’d first met Rufus. He’d gotten lost one day and the girls helped Ms. Sullivan find him.

  Rufus brought the stick back. He dropped it at Marion’s feet. It was covered in doggy slobber.

  “Ew, Rufus,” Marion said with a laugh.

  “Ma-ri-on!” Amy called from the barn door. “My mom’s here.”

  Amy’s mom had come to teach the girls more about frogs. Ellie and Liz were already inside. Marion gave Rufus a good-bye pat and headed for the barn.

  Dr. Purvis was standing by the frog tank. Ellie, Liz, and Amy were gathered around.

  “Hi, Marion,” Dr. Purvis said. “I want to show you girls how to clean out the frog tank. But first, how about I share some of my favorite frog facts?”

  “Okay!” said the girls together.

  “Here’s one,” said Dr. Purvis. “You know how we call a group of birds a flock? Well, we call a group of frogs . . . an army.”

  The girls laughed.

  “An army of frogs,” said Marion. “Oh no. I’m getting a picture in my mind. It’s totally terrifying!”

  “Wait,” said Amy. “Listen to this one. Mom, tell them the one about the skin.”

  Dr. Purvis smiled. “Yes, well, most frogs shed their skin about once a week.”

  Liz looked puzzled. “Once a week?” she said. “But we’ve had these frogs for a week.” She looked into the frog tank. “Why aren’t there any old frog skins anywhere?”

  “Good question, Liz,” Dr. Purvis said. “You don’t see the old skins because the frogs eat them.”

  “Coooool!” said Liz.

  “Whoa,” said Ellie.

  “Yikes!” said Marion. They ate bugs and their own skin? She was mostly grossed out. But one part of it was cool: The frogs weren’t letting anything go to waste.

  “I have a question,” said Ellie. “Why can’t we touch them?”

  “Because frog skin is thin and sensitive,” Dr. Purvis explained. “It’s designed to let in air and water—and whatever else it touches. Even right after we wash our hands, we still usually have stuff on them—like oils or soap residue. If we touch the frogs, then those things could get inside the frog’s body and make it sick. That wouldn’t be good.”

  Hmm. That is pretty interesting, Marion thought. She leaned down and peered into the tank. One of the frogs seemed to be staring back
at her.

  She pretended the frog could read her mind. I don’t want to pick you up, she thought. And you don’t want me to pick you up.

  Somehow, knowing that made Marion like the frogs better. It was like they understood one another.

  Decisions, Decisions

  The big day had come.

  Shopping day!

  Marion’s mom had driven her to The Closet so she could borrow clothing, as the flyer said. She was picking out the actual clothes that would make up her outfit. Then, at school tomorrow, she would meet with Hannah to present the outfit.

  “I’ll be right over there, looking at shoes for Gabby,” Marion’s mom said. “Call me if you need me.”

  Marion was happy to browse on her own. In fact, she was in heaven. Marion looked down at her notebook. It was open to her outfit sketch.

  She was most proud of the scarf idea she’d had. She was hoping to find an extra-large patterned scarf at The Closet. She wanted to tie it over her basic pieces. It would be an unexpected touch!

  Already, Marion had found a simple blue skirt and a matching top. They were perfect for the base layer. “Now where are the scarves?” Marion wondered.

  Looking around for a salesperson to ask, she passed the fitting rooms. One of the doors opened. Out stepped . . . Olivia!

  “Marion!” she cried.